Obviously Nemesis Prime/Scourge/Black Convoy wasn't the first black repaint of a pre-existing character in TF, that would be Soundblaster, but not long ago I did a deep-dive into Getter Robo and came across this gem: The Black Getter, from Getter Robo Armageddon (1998). Now my question is, why does Black Convoy (aka RID Scourge) Black Lio Convoy end up with a nearly identical deco only a few years later that same year, when the green from the Black Getter is a holdover from the original Getter Robo design? Where else could this black/teal color scheme have come from?
I wouldn’t be surprised if part of the inspiration for Black Convoy’s colors came from this guy: This is Black Lio Convoy from Beast Wars II, released in 1998. Given that he was the first black redeco of an Optimus Prime type character, there’s at least some likelihood that Black Convoy’s colors were modeled after his.
Interesting. That's still the same year as Armageddon so it's still possible there was some influence from Getter (or maybe that gives stronger evidence for it?). I'm starting to wonder what the actual first black repaint was now. The earliest I can think of are the Gundam Mk IIs from Zeta Gundam (1985), but I'm pretty sure they were technically dark blue weren't they.
It came from BWII. Specifically Copy Convoy, an evil clone of Lio Convoy. After that, Car Robots incorporated another evil clone with colors inspired by Copy Convoy, named Black Convoy. And after that, Black Convoy, AKA Nemesis Prime, became a staple of the franchise.
Unlikely to be coming from the Getter Robo. More likely from the JP Beast Wars. Scourge/Nemesis has very prominent teal accents making this color scheme more unique than just being a black Optimus.
the part that gets me was RID Scourge looked more like Optimus Prime than Optimus Prime. I mean the head is basically identical
The whole point of ‘Copy Convoy’s’ existence was that he was an evil copy of Lio Convoy, created from a projecting device that made a ‘negative’ version of people, like the negative of a photograph. I don’t think Getter Robo or whatever it’s called had any influence; if anything, it’s a happy coincidence.
The Gundam MK II was an interesting case because they started with the darker colors and then was repainted white after. Despite the dark blues they are referred as the black Gundam in the episode it first appears in, I think its just how they use dark blue for black color back then like Venom.